Chapter 4
(The view at the beachside cafe--------->)
3 A.M. and Dimitri was still in a foul mood and decided to keep it to himself. He had sequestered himself in his room and told everyone to leave him alone unless he called them and asked for their assistance. He had also closed off this thoughts which he knew frustrated the hell out of Stavos, but at this point he did not care. His mind space needed privacy right now, while he pondered out the situation he now found himself in. Frustrated he threw the comforters off his half naked body and raised from the king size bed and stalked into his bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided to at least make an attempt to see Caleb, to talk to him and get to know what he was like. He wanted to gauge Caleb's reactions to him and the things he shared with him. This had consumed him for weeks now and he was going to face it head on.
With that decision made the flipped the switch to turn off the lights in the bathroom and he went to his private bar and pulled out a bottle of blood to sip on before he went back to bed.
Stavos opened his car door and waved to the woman that had been his bit of diversion for the evening before he got in a closed the SUV door. Dimitri was pouting so he had decided to entertain himself for the evening. He understood why Dimitri was being cautious, but he has never seen him dither so long about makng a decision. He knew at some point, the fact that knowing his mate was out there was going to compel him to seek him out whether he liked it or not. He just hoped that he will have come to his senses before that occurred, because then the primal need to claim takes over , those actions will rule over common sense.
The drive did not take long as he passed through the intense security of Miami Beach’s infamous Star Island. He slowly cruised the streets to Dimitri’s mansion. Not a single conscious thought was heard in the neighborhood. He pulled into the drive and pressed the garage door opener on his visor and parked the Hummer in the carnivorous garage that housed a spectacular car collection. He entered the house through the double doors leading directly into the kitchen. He made sure the alarms were engaged before heading to his wing of the house.
Caleb groaned and turned over and picked up his cell phone to see what time it was. It was just a little after seven so he rolled back over and prayed for just a little bit more sleep. After a few minutes if tossing and turning he gave up and got out of bed. As routine, he made the bed and folded it back into a sofa and meticulously placed the cushions and pillows back onto it. He reached his arms over his head and stretched away the final remnants of sleep from his lithe body. He turned and entered the kitchen and was about to start the coffee machine when he decided against it. He headed for the bathroom instead to perform his morning routine.
When that was finished he opened the blinds to his nonexistent patio and smiled at the beautiful morning outside. Throwing the prudence of doing laundry and minor house work aside and grabbed a backpack and in it he stuffed a clean towel, a novel and other minor things that he would need. He quickly shuffled out of pajamas and into his denim shorts and a t-shirt. He grabbed an extra towel just in case and headed for the door. He smiled as he reached the car and opened the door and thought about spending a lazy morning reading and people watching on the beach.
The waitress led Dimitri to a table on the outside patio in the shade from the morning sun. He thanked her as she handed him the menu and walked away. Smiling to himself, he thought about the fact that it's been a long time since he went anywhere by himself for no reason what so ever. Stavos was still comatose when he left the house and his resident love birds where still cooing at each other because no one was up and about. So he wrote a quick note and made a hasty retreat. Although he rarely ate cooked food anymore he decided to have a simple breakfast of eggs and toast with coffee on the beach and let the sea air clear his mind.
Having chosen this restaraunt with the breath taking view of the water and the beach below he placed his order he sat back and people watched. He scanned thoughts every now and again but not really fleshing out anything intriguing. The waitress smiled as she set his food in front of him and asked if he needed anything else. When he declined she left him alone to his meal. He gingerly tasted the eggs and they pleased him so he dug in. He was half way through his food when he saw Caleb making his way across the sand and up the pier to the restaurant. He immediately slipped his mind control over the hostess and instructed her to seat Caleb outside next to his table. She complied without question. He quickly shuffled his newspaper open and pretended not to notice when he was seated.
Caleb had not planned on treating himself to breakfast but what the hell, he worked hard enough, he thought as he surveyed the pricey menu. This seemed like the perfect place to soak up ambiance of the beach and read in comfort of plush cushioned chairs and wide panoramic view of the crisp blue water. The waitress placed his coffee on the table in front of him and took his breakfast order. After she walked away Caleb prepared the coffee to his liking, then dug into his bag for his book. He took a sip and glanced to his left and straight into the intense hazel green gaze of the man at the other table; the cup froze midway to her lips.
“Hi.” Dimitri simply said and smiled at him.
He mentally struggled to clear his shocked brain and nodded at him for he did not trust his voice. Carefully he placed the mug down and struggled to find something to say. “I guess I was not the only one with the idea to enjoy the weather today. Fancy meeting you here.” He said and almost face palmded himself at the cliche line he just uttered.
Dimitri smiled and replied. “Great minds think alike I guess. Do you want share a table with me or would you prefer your own company?” The choice was Caleb's always.
Caleb fidgeted in his chair and decided why not, the guy was hot as hell and he got up with his mug, backpack, and his book and made his way over to take the chair Dimtri graciously held out for him. Nice, he thought. “Thank you.” He said out loud.
“You are very welcome, let me formerly introduce myself. My name is Dimitri Aleksandra.” He stated and held out his hand. He had to see if Caleb's skin was as soft as it looked.
“Caleb Tanner.” He shyly replied, his coffee completely forgotten at this point.
“Nice to meet you Caleb, if I may call you that, you are welcome to call me Dimitri.” He stated as he forced himself to let go of his hand. Caleb's skin was heaven. He could spend all day just rubbing his fingertips all over his body. He smelled delicious as well, so much so that his mouth was watering and he had to force his incisors not to lengthen.
Caleb did not have the faintest idea what to say next, so he improvised. “It is beautiful today and it seemed a shame to be indoors, so here I am playing hooky when I have things to do at home.”
“Ah, I see, well I do not get a chance to play hooky as you say, so I took the opportunity when it presented itself...." Dimtri replied leeting the statement finish for itself he was too busy struggling not to reach out to touch Caleb skin again. It didn't help that he could hear Caleb's heart fluttering away in his chest or that his scent was getting stronger as he became more aroused, but this pleased him immensely. Caleb was attracted to him, he fough the stupid grin of self satisfaction that wanted to break out across his face.
“Why is that?” Caleb asked curious about this man. He was busy internally willing his heart to settle every time Dimtri flashed a smile, he felt his stomach somersault when those sexy lips parted to flash those white teeth ina full on smile. At this rate he wasn't going to be able to eat and would waste his money on the food. But, damn he didn't care because he was in the presence of this Sex God and breathing the same air. (Oh Sigh.)
“My companies keep me very busy. Being the boss means you are responsible for everyone and everything.” He calmly explained.
"Oh I see, but being the boss also means you can delegate.” Caleb pointed out.
The waitress came back and looked her table a little confused then she spotted him at Dimitri’s table and smiled a little less brightly as she placed the food in front of him. Dimitri took the opportunity to order a carafe of coffee and a muffin to prolong the encounter seeing hehad finished his original breakfast. He did not want Caleb to feel awkward eating by himself.
“I like to see things through myself to make sure that they are being done correctly.” He continued to explain when the waitress departed to fill his order.
He nodded and looked down into his plate. (Hmm.. this man likes to be in control.) He thought as he took a chance and glanced back up at him and got caught in his gaze. Dimtri's eyes were so deep he felt like he was falling into his heated gaze. He used the food to distract himself for a moment as he took a few bites. He tasted none of it of course in his nervousness.
Dimitri let Caleb eat in silence and studied him through his lashes. He did not want to openly stare and make him uncomfortable buthe found himself ding so anyway. He was trying to think of way to getting Caleb's phone number. MAybe he should just be bold and decided he would give his instead. He found himself envying Caleb's fork for the ability it had to touch his lips and tongue. He never guessed that watching a man eat could be an erotic experience, but then again feeding your partner is form foreplay if done correctly. He immediately stamped out that train of thought as he cock twitched in his pants liking the idea as well. He was having a difficult time as it was already.
Caleb managed to do justice to his breakfast and he took a sip of the fresh coffee that was placed on the table. “So your work is very involved then?” He asked.
“I have several companies that produced everything from computer parts to importing and exporting, so yes it is very involved at times. But enough about me, I am just a busy business man not extremely exciting, but tell me a little about you?” Dimtri inquired, his curiosity was definitely peaked.
“Nothing exciting, I am a full time student working towards my degree in Social Work. I work part time at theschool and part time at the bookstore were we met. That is basically it.” Caleb explained with a shrug.
Dimitri smiled and replied. “I am sure there more than that, why Social Work and no friends or girlfriends and such?” He was trying to flesh out Caleb's sexual preference.
“Well, it’s a long and complicated story as to why I chose to become a Social Worker, and yes I have a few friends but no boyfriends.” Caleb nervously answered. He saw no need really to lie about batting from the same team. He was concerned though about Dimitri's reaction to it though.
Dimitri waited until Caleb looked up at him and trapped him with his gaze. “I have more than enough time for a long complicated story. And as for the men around you they must be stupid. If it were me I would try my best to whisk you off your feet.”
Caleb could have sworn his heart just stopped dead in his chest. He considered for a minute and came to the conclusion that Dimitri seemed generally interested in him. The mere thought surprised him, and he found himself telling him practically his whole difficult life story. When he was finished Dimitri was holding his hand in encouragement. Caleb wondered if Dimitri was cold because his hands were a little cold to touch, but he found it pleasant. He had never had someone as beautiful as this would look twice at him before and he was flattered. But his insecurities clicked on, and he gently withdrew his hand, wondering if he was just being nice to him since he was alone this morning.
Dimitri sensed his withdrawal and not just his hand, so he decided to bolster Caleb's confidence a little and said. “I think you have come a long way and you are doing a remarkable job. I commend you, sometimes children of the system remain in the system and never break the viscous cycle, but you seem to be making your own way. I would love dearly to formerly ask you to have dinner with me at your convenience, of course.” He stated always giving Caleb the choice to refuse if he so desired, although he wanted nothing more than for him to accept.
Caleb was indecisive, his heart was telling him, yes. damn it, yes! But his brain was saying something else. “I am not sure.” He mumbled suddenly painfully shy again.
“Please say yes. I am not some weirdo or anything. I find you very interesting to talk to and all I ask is dinner.” Dimitri pleaded with him.
Caleb mulled it over for another minute and then he accepted they did not set a definitive date but he gave him his cell phone number.
“You can reach me anytime day or night at that number.” Dimitri said as he pointed out his cell phone number he wrote on the back of his business card and handed it over to Caleb.
Caleb smiled at him and pulled made some excuse to leave, he was too flustered. He began to pull out money when Dimitri waved the gesture away and said he hoped to talk to him real soon. Caleb thanked him for a pleasant morning and for breakfast and hoped he walked gracefully out of there, he refused to turn around to see if he was watching. Because he knew Dintri was, he could feel his eyes burning into his back.